Arlington teachers, parents and students are planning to attend this weekend's rally for education funding in Austin.
Public school teachers from around the state plan to gather at the state Capitol to demand that legislators dip into the state's reserve fund to fully fund schools.
The Arlington Independent School District faces a $13.3 million deficit and could lose another estimated $35.1 million in state funding.
Samantha Saltar, a sixth-grader at Butler Elementary, said the state funding cuts would hurt her favorite program, eliminating orchestra for fifth- and sixth-graders.
"Arlington has a really good music reputation," she said. "And we don't want to lose that, because we've worked too hard. And all those fourth-graders who really want to move up next year and be in orchestra -- they won't get to do that until seventh-grade. It's like waiting to teach you how to read until third-grade."
Outside of her school, purple ribbons are tied around trees to say "save our schools."
Three buses will leave at 6 a.m. from AISD for the state Capitol. The march begins at 11 a.m., and the rally is from noon to 2 p.m.
